


Mystery Man

by PictureThis



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: ASZ AU, Beth Greene Lives, Beth Lives, Deanna POV, F/M, Hurt Daryl, Romance, Tears, daryl centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-14
Updated: 2015-03-14
Packaged: 2018-03-17 18:33:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3539711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PictureThis/pseuds/PictureThis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Deanna Monroe was gifted; she could read people like an open book.</p><p>Until Daryl Dixon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mystery Man

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is my first story ever published...yikes! I hope you all like it, and sorry for any mistakes, english is not my first language. Enjoy, my lovelies! xx B.

Deanna always thought herself to be gifted. 

She even thought about being a poker player, and she’d be a damn good one if the world hadn’t gone to shit, that is.  
Still, she could read people like an open book, and that was something valuable these days. God knows she heard all kinds of things coming from outside the walls she safely tucked herself and her family in since the start of all the madness. People weren’t people, and she soon learned that corpses running after your brain weren’t her only concern. So she relied on her gift, and it hadn’t failed her once.

Until Daryl Dixon.

You see, she wasn’t complaining, because her abilities had saved her more than once, but there was something about the surly man that she just couldn’t figure out and it made her slightly intrigued.

At first, when she looked at all those “savages” – as the other Alexandrians had kindly put it – walking through the gates, she examined each of them carefully. She videotaped them, she talked to them, and she got to know them. 

Except for Daryl Dixon. 

So she made him one of her new projects. She’d rewatch his interview every once in a while, she’d walk by Rick’s house and see him on the porch, almost as if he was waiting for something….someone. But all she could take of all that was the obvious: he was silent, he didn’t want to be here, he didn’t trust people easily… and that just wasn’t good enough for her.

As time went by, she got closer to Michonne, maybe even to the point where the warrior trusted her, but just slightly. So she asked, in the most subtle way only a congresswoman could, why the hell was Dixon like that. Zombie apocalypse aside, of course. But it was just another dead end, and she should have predicted it, seeing as all of the group seemed incredibly protective of each other.

So all she had was what Mr. Dixon himself would show to people – which wasn’t much - and Michonne’s steely “we don’t talk about that, and you better forget it. He’s good people, that’s all you have to know. He doesn’t take too lightly of people meddling on his business.”

Oh, and she knew that. She could only guess what kind of business the gruffy man had, but she was sure she’d never seen anything like that. She’d often remember Glenn saying they were out there almost too long, but for her, Daryl Dixon wasn’t in either. It was like he wasn’t anywhere, not even in his own body.

It wasn’t until one day, when a blonde girl came through the gates, that she really got a satisfying answer.

Apparently, the girl – Beth, was part of the group. A very loved part, seeing as how people were hugging her tight and sobbing. It was almost like a chain reaction and she stood there watching as the beautiful scene unfolded. They would see her, get this shocked look and run towards the girl. Except for one.

The noise of something heavy falling to the floor made her turn around and there he stood, mystery man himself, paralyzed. His crossbow was lying on the ground next to him, only to be followed by his knees. The lost look on his face was replaced by one of pure joy; the day was cloudy and it looked like it would rain but Daryl was looking at Beth like she was the bright sun shining upon him. 

The girl wasn’t far behind, almost going limp in the arms of whoever she was hugging at the moment, just by seeing the archer there, a few feet away from her. She took a deep breath, as if there wasn’t enough air in her lungs and a bright smile graced her face, contrasting against the deep dark scars she carried.

Slowly, Beth made her way to Daryl, stopping in front of the once broken man and taking his face on her hands, something she thought would instantly grant the girl a rude response if she were anyone else, but she wasn’t, and that made all the difference. Then, her fingers started pushing the strands of hair from the man’s face with a touch so feather-like it was barely there, and they just looked at each other’s eyes in such a deep way, it felt almost intrusive to be there, but no one could look away from that now.  
Suddenly, the girl too fell to her knees and on instinct, both rested their foreheads against each other’s and started silently crying until eye contact wasn’t enough anymore and they became a tangle of limbs; holding each other close, burying their heads in each other’s necks and taking deep breaths, almost as if they needed all their senses to become aware of the other to know everything was real.

From where she stood, Deanna could hear the faint whisper of a deep voice barely used inside theses walls saying what sounded like “you, you, you…” and a soft “shh…” accompanied by a brush of a thumb to the cheek.

As the first drops of rain fell from the sky, Deanna and the rest of the group slowly started making their way to their houses, leaving the pair still in their strong hold, not daring to break a moment so beautiful, so pure.

Deanna always thought herself to be a gifted person; she could read people like an open book, until Daryl Dixon. She made him one of her projects, studied him…but never came to a conclusion. Today, as she took one last glance to the pair behind her, she finally found a satisfying answer.

Someone already had figured Daryl Dixon out, and she was right there with him.


End file.
